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Turkish Press Review, 02-01-08
From: Turkish Directorate General of Press and Information <http://www.byegm.gov.tr>
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Press
& Information
Turkish
Press
Turkish
Press Review >>
Foreign
Press Guide
Summary of the political and economic
news in the Turkish press this morning
08.01.2002
CONTENTS
[01] IZGI RECEIVES US CONGRESSMAN SHAYS
[02] DENKTAS AND CLERIDES TO MEET BEFORE NEGOTIATIONS
[03] JAPANESE PARLIAMENTARY DELEGATION TO VISIT TURKEY
[04] HABUR GATE IN NORTHERN IRAQ REOPENED
[05] TURKEY DENOUNCES DECISION TO DEMOLISH OTTOMAN CASTLE
[06] HARBOR OPERATIONS BEGIN MODERNIZATION
[07] DERVIS MEETS WITH NGO REPRESENTATIVES
[08] CAKAN, MAYORS AGREE TO REDUCE GAS PRICES 11-22%
[09] VURAL ANNOUNCES NEW TARGETS FOR THE NEW YEAR
[10] IMF TO PROVIDE ADDITIONAL FUNDS
[11] IZMIR TO CAPITALIZE ON ATHENS OLYMPICS
[12] OGER TOURS BECOMES TOP 5 GERMAN TOUR OPERATORS
[13] OZTAY TEXTILE RECEIVES MILLENIUM AWARD
[14] FESTIVAL FOR TURKISH LANGUAGE BEGINS
[15] FROM THE COLUMNS... FROM THE COLUMNS... FROM THE
COLUMNS...
[16] ECEVIT WANTS TO LEARN BY OZGEN ACAR (CUMHURIYET)
[17] CHOICES OVER IRAQ BY SAMI KOHEN (MILLIYET)
[01] IZGI RECEIVES US CONGRESSMAN SHAYS
Turkish Parliament Speaker Omer �zgi yesterday
received US Congressman Christopher Shays, who is currently in Ankara
as ahead of a delegation from the US House of Representatives.
Remarking that the United States appreciated Turkey's support during
the operation in Afghanistan, Shays said, "Turkey has been
fighting against terrorism for 30 years, but not all of us were aware
of that. Now, the Turkish government can share its experiences with
us. There are many things we can learn from you. We are grateful to
the nation for its support." For his part, Izgi stated that the
terrorist attacks in the US had vindicated Turkey by making the case
that international cooperation was necessary to successfully fight
against terrorism. /Cumhuriyet/
[02] DENKTAS AND CLERIDES TO MEET BEFORE NEGOTIATIONS
Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC)
President Rauf Denktas and Greek Cypriot Leader Glafcos Clerides will
reportedly meet on Jan. 11 before the official start of negotiations
on the divided island in order to discuss the issue of "missing
people," or people who were lost track of in 1974 and previous
years. The two leaders will meet in the residence of Zbigniew
Wlosowicz, the United Nations special envoy to Cyprus. /Star/
[03] JAPANESE PARLIAMENTARY DELEGATION TO VISIT TURKEY
A Japanese parliamentary delegation chaired by
Shoji Motooka is to visit Turkey today. The delegation will visit
Istanbul today and move on to Ankara tomorrow. The group is scheduled
to visit Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer as well as the
Parliament. /Star/
[04] HABUR GATE IN NORTHERN IRAQ REOPENED
Turkey's Habur Gate on the border with northern
Iraq reopened yesterday for gas oil trade, announced by Sirnak Deputy
Governor Resul Celik. The gate had been closed after last September's
terrorist attacks. /Star/
[05] TURKEY DENOUNCES DECISION TO DEMOLISH OTTOMAN CASTLE
Ankara denounced a recent decision by the Saudi
Arabia government to go ahead with the demolition of a 130-year-old
Ottoman castle. The Turkish Culture Ministry has requested that UNESCO
reprimand Saudi Arabia for its plans to replace Mecca's historic
al-Ajyad Castle with a shopping center. Culture Ministry spokesman
Nazif Sahin said, "This is similar to what the Taleban did to the
statues of the Buddha." In addition, State Minister Yilmaz
Karakoyunlu said, "This decision only demonstrates how
disrespectful Saudi Arabia is to the history of another country. They
have the same mentality as the Taleban." Ahmet Vekif Alp, the
chief advisor to Nationalist Movement Party Chairman Devlet Bahceli,
added that destroying such a historic place would constitute a crime
against all humanity." /Milliyet/
[06] HARBOR OPERATIONS BEGIN MODERNIZATION
The Transportation Ministry has begun to implement
a project under which it will conduct and control operations at
Turkey's harbors via computer, to begin with Istanbul's Haydarpasa
Harbor, and the Izmir and Mersin harbors. Officials from the
Transportation Ministry announced yesterday that it had begun to use a
remaining 5 million euros in loans from the European Investment Bank
to equip and modernize with computers harbor operations and to
implement the harbor computerization project. /Aksam/
[07] DERVIS MEETS WITH NGO REPRESENTATIVES
State Minister for the Economy Kemal Dervis met
yesterday with a number of social groups and the chairman of business
and labor chambers in Ankara and defended the policy of supporting
banks through state financial resources. Following the meeting, Dervis
told reporters that although a full compromise had not been reached,
it was a very fruitful meeting and all of its participants had
expressed their own views very clearly. He added, "Putting banks
back on their feet is a process of rehabilitation. If we don't do it
with directed action, the financial sector may collapse and a new
crisis will become inevitable." Present at the meeting were
representatives from the Union of Chambers (TOBB), Ankara Chamber of
Commerce (ATO), Turkish Confederation of Employers (TISK), Union of
Agricultural Chambers (TZOB), Confederation of Tradesmen and Artisans
(TESK), Labor Federation (Turk-Is) and Confederation of Revolutionary
Labor Unions (DISK). /Turkiye/
[08] CAKAN, MAYORS AGREE TO REDUCE GAS PRICES 11-22%
After a meeting yesterday with the mayors of
Ankara, Istanbul, Izmir, Bursa, Izmit and Eskisehir as well as BOTAS
sate gas authorities, Energy and Natural Resources Minister Zeki Cakan
announced that the price of natural gas would be reduced 11-22%. In a
press conference following the six-hour-plus meeting, Cakan said that
an agreement had been reached between the mayors, excluding only
Ankara Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Melih Gokcek. The minister
stated that the Fuel Consumption Tax (ATV) had been postponed to May
1, 2002 and that he would also try to effect a reduction in the Value
Added Tax (KDV) in the future. Meanwhile, Ankara Mayor Gokcek left the
meeting while complaining that the government was stubbornly resisting
efforts to reduce the gas KDV. Gokcek said that he would hold a press
conference today to announce his own reduction in the natural gas
price. /Turkiye-All Papers/
[09] VURAL ANNOUNCES NEW TARGETS FOR THE NEW YEAR
Transport Minister Oktay Vural yesterday said,
"Turkey and its citizens can overcome our difficult periods only
through new initiatives and high morale." Laying out his
ministry's targets and projects for the year 2002, Vural said,
"Our vision is to become rapid, competitive, and more dependable
in transportation and communication services." Pointing to the
government's plans to complete the restructuring of Turk Telekom this
year, after which the landline monopoly would be ready for completion
and privatization, Vural said it would offer free Internet services to
libraries and schools. He also said a project would be launched to
benefit from unused airports, whose capacities total some $2.5
billion. Vural went on to say that Turk Telekom would open a bid this
month for a system that would enable telephone, Internet and
television services through a single line. /Turkiye-Turkish Daily
News/
[10] IMF TO PROVIDE ADDITIONAL FUNDS
The International Monetary Fund is expected to
provide $10 billion in additional financing for the government's new
economic program just after discussing Turkey's Letter of Intent. Some
$7 billion would be provided directly to the budget and the rest to
funds. Speaking to Reuters yesterday IMF Turkey representative Odd
Brekk, said that the IMF Board of Directors is expected to come
together to approve the new stand-by loan in the second half of this
month. /Milliyet/
[11] IZMIR TO CAPITALIZE ON ATHENS OLYMPICS
The Izmir Chamber of Commerce (IZTO) is planning
projects to capitalize on the 2004 Olympics to be held in Athens, just
a short trip away on the Aegean Sea. IZTO Executive Board Chairman
Ekrem Demirtas stated yesterday that the Olympics being held in
Turkey's neighbor Greece presented an opportunity for the nation, and
that the group would do all that it could in order to ensure
commercial cooperation between the two countries such as mutual
investments and export opportunities. /Aksam/
[12] OGER TOURS BECOMES TOP 5 GERMAN TOUR OPERATORS
Prominent German tour operator Oger Tours announced
yesterday that its 2001 gross revenues of 100 million Deutsche marks
had placed it among that nation's top 5 operators in the sector. Oger
Holding Company General Coordinator Sinan Vardar said that last year
had seen an increase of 15% in Turkish vacation market as compared to
2000 and that they had brought nearly 1 million German tourists to
Turkey in 2001. Saying that one out of three German tourists who
travel to Turkey use Oger Tours to do so, Vardar added, "We are
the top in terms of the number of tourists and amount of foreign
exchange we bring in from Germany. The German tourists that we brought
in last year provided Turkey with foreign exchange input amounting to
nearly 1 billion Deutsche marks." /Aksam/
[13] OZTAY TEXTILE RECEIVES MILLENIUM AWARD
The International Commercial Prestige Award was
given yesterday to Turkish company Oztay Textile, the maker of Abbate
shirts. The award, which is given by a Spain-based business group,
covers the year 2000 and therefore is called the Millennium Award. The
award was given in a ceremony held in Madrid. Receiving the award,
Oztay Textile Executive Board Chairman Hayrettin Gumuskaya said that
Oztay was number three in the world in terms of shirt production
quality and capacity and that it would build on its success in this
field in the year 2002. He added that it had sold 6 million shirts
under its own brands on the international market and had also made
exports under the names Abbate, Enzo Feretti, Lorenzo Mazoli and Tomas
Hart, all trademarks of Oztay Textile. /Aksam/
[14] FESTIVAL FOR TURKISH LANGUAGE BEGINS
An international festival entitled "The
Turkish language: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow" began yesterday
in Ankara. Culture Minister Istemihan Talay remarked that since
national language constituted the base of Turkey's common national
culture, all citizens were responsible for protecting Turkish and
helping it keep up with new developments affecting all languages
worldwide. The festival, which is organized by the Culture Ministry,
will be a platform where the problems of the Turkish language will be
discussed. In his speech at the festival's opening ceremony, former
Turkish Culture Minister Talat Halman called on officials to take
measures against the misuses of Turkish. /Cumhuriyet/
[15] FROM THE COLUMNS... FROM THE COLUMNS... FROM THE
COLUMNS...
[16] ECEVIT WANTS TO LEARN BY OZGEN ACAR (CUMHURIYET)
Columnist Ozgen Acar writes on the prime minister's
planned visit to Washington. A summary of his column is as follows:
"The White House's statement on the Jan.16 meeting between US
President George W. Bush and Turkish Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit said
that it would provide an opportunity to further improve bilateral
relations between key NATO member Turkey and the US. It was also
announced that during the meeting nine issues would be discussed,
namely the fight against terrorism, the Afghanistan situation, the
Caucasus, Central Asia, Cyprus, NATO, the EU, the Balkans, and
Turkey's economic reforms. One US diplomat told me that there were no
problems between Turkey and the US as Turkey was carrying out its
economic reforms with success, there n-have been positive developments
concerning Cyprus, Turkey has taken the necessary steps concerning the
European army and had set an example to the whole world in the fight
against terrorism, and also because everything was going smoothly in
the Caucasus, the Balkans and the oil pipeline. The only uncertainty
was about Iraq. The diplomat said that Washington did not have a
decisive view on the issue as yet. The diplomats of both countries are
optimistic indeed. On the economic front, Turkey prefers a growth
model based not on IMF loans, but instead closing its foreign trade
deficit by selling more goods and services to the US, as well as by
making joint investments with US businessmen. Ankara views the issue
through the lens of the Chinese proverb 'Give a man a fish, you feed
him for a day. Teach a man how to fish, you feed him for a lifetime.'
And Ankara is asking for fishing line."
[17] CHOICES OVER IRAQ BY SAMI KOHEN (MILLIYET)
Columnist Sami Kohen writes on the Iraq issue and
the policies of Turkey and the US. A summary of his column is as
follows: "In light of last weekend's visit to Ankara made by a US
Senate delegation of nine, including Senator Joseph Liberman, the
views of Washington concerning Iraq became bit clearer. Two points are
noteworthy regarding the views expressed on the issue. First is that
Bush administration does not have a clear-cut action plan regarding
Iraq. Second is that before the US determines a final policy on the
problem, and what's more, before it engages in an operation, it will
certainly consult Turkey. Senator Lieberman's statements to that
effect have relieved Turkish officials. US President Bush and Turkish
Prime Minister Ecevit will have ample opportunity for such
consultations. Turkey's policy on the issue is clear. The Turkish side
will say to its counterpart that a military operation by the US
against Iraq would be dangerous and damaging. Other means should be
tried to bring Iraq to reason. There are two reasons why Ankara thinks
this. One is subjective and the other, objective. The subjective
reason being that a conflict in the region would damage its own
political and economic interests and therefore it doesn't want to be
led into an adventure with its neighbor. When reasoned objectively, it
may be seen that such a war may cost the US dearly, upset
international balances and lead to new complications. In fact, there
are many in Washington who believe that US intervention could lead to
adverse consequences. However, the US seems to be fixed on the idea
that Saddam Hussein must go anyhow. Therefore, the real issue for the
US is, as Turkish Foreign Minister Ismail Cem says, the overthrow of
Saddam's regime. For Turkey the priority is the territorial integrity
of Iraq. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Ecevit's recent statements have
tried to correct the misimpression that he is in favor of the
continuance of Saddam's regime no matter what. He said that he has
called on Saddam to comply with the UN decisions, but to no avail.
There are other choices US is evaluating other than the military
option. Turkey was in favor of the status quo. However, it is becoming
clear that maintaining the status quo really does not fall in line
with Turkey's interests. Therefore, Turkish diplomacy should work on
new scenarios and determine the best option, one which will not leave
Turkey out of any formation led by the US."
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